"Faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death" said Hunter S. Thompson. This quote appears here and gives a new direction for research. The London taxi as a black art, a species apart, which wends a tricky way through the streets of the capital. The driver has The Knowledge, and hence a bigger brain. She has learned a new language - I had Screaming Lord Sutch in the back of the cab last week... and an answer to every question, except one: Will you take me to South London?

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

This leaflet is a lie. There is almost complete freedom to interchange between Bank and Monument. The only real change is that the new tunnel from Monument to the Bank DLR level is closed, and that there are some one way systems in places, depending on the time of day. The entrance in King William IV Street seems to open past the normal 9pm weekday close, since this is the only "official" route to the DLR / Northern Line.

Some signs have been covered up so that newbies and tourists cannot find the quick way from A to B. My guess is that the fire and safety rules would not allow the scheme described in the leaflet!

I was on a 25 bus in the City of London, and seemed to me that "gonzogeography" was a term in search of some meaning, much like "psychogeography". I was then mindful of "The Meaning of Liff", where the names on signposts are given a use, to stop them loafing around doing very little.

The talk given by Merlin Coverley (the author) at Housmans Booksellers this week was interesting, and it left me wanting more. What was "psychogeography" as distinct from geography (as understood today)? I guess I had to catch up with some reading and the events of 1968 and the "Situationists International".

But there seemed to be plenty of research material on the 25 bus, a bendy bus that snakes from Oxford Circus to the wilds of Essex.

Get in the back of the bendy bus, and you realise that it bends left and right, up and down. The ride is raucous. Some call it the free bus, since you have to swipe an Oystercard or a ticket before you board. Inspectors descend like a host of locusts, but you might just be able to swipe before they get to you... ooops I have just had my wallet stolen!

Walking as an art form. That sounded the business. What could we learn from taking a few steps?

Walk on.... a long the Three Mills Loop around and around. Each time you complete the Loop, you get a little deeper into the groove.